Valentine’s Day is just around the corner (Tuesday, February 14th) and in addition to our gorgeous willow & bloom offerings, for 2012 we are proud to announce that we teamed up with our friends at glassybaby and have created a modern and stylish signature arrangement in an assortment of colors sure to please your loved one.  Inspired by the candy hearts of our first childhood crush, each arrangement is sure to take the conversation further.

"All Mine" - red blooms in a soft pink glassybaby

"First Kiss" - pink blooms in a white glassybaby

"Love Bug" - white blooms in a lavender glassybaby

http://www.glassybaby.com  “A glassybaby is an artfully crafted, colorful, hand-blown glass vessel that can be used as a votive or vase. Made by hand in the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle using a multi-layered glassblowing process, each glassybaby is unique with a thick, clear base and a distinctive yet simple, rounded form.”  Listed on Oprah’s Favorite Things, what could be better for Valentine’s Day than beautiful flowers presented in a stunning glassybaby that your sweetheart can enjoy for years to come?

Please remember that all of our containers and vases are limited in quantity, therefore we highly suggest that you get your Valentine’s Day orders placed before Friday, 2/10 for delivery on Monday, 2/13 or Tuesday, 2/14.  No custom orders can be taken on Valentine’s Day and each year we sell out  well ahead of the big day, but you can also find jewelry, chocolates, or loose wrap flowers by stopping into our retail shop, Petals on Fremont.

It’s that wonderful time of year again where we anticipate fun gatherings with family and friends and the making of magical memories for all that grace our homes.

As a floral designer, of course I think that flowers help add polish and enhance the ambiance of  any room or event but it seems especially appropriate during holiday entertaining to turn it up a notch.

Below are some ideas that are anywhere from do-it-yourself pieces to more stylized presentations that willow & bloom would be more than happy to create for you!

Christmas ornament and leaf centerpiece

This is an easy way to create a colorful centerpiece – festive colored ornaments surrounded by either fresh lemon leaves, silk leaves and accented with eucalyptus or hypericum berries.

Apothecary bottle centerpiece

This is a wonderful set of apothecary bottles set in distressed wood that have been very popular at willow & bloom.  You can easily design this with a variety of flower blooms, fresh herbs and leaves to create a fun and original centerpiece with little effort.  We sell these at our boutique for $28 not including the flowers.

Champagne flute centerpiece

This clean and modern interpretation of a centerpiece is so easy to do with contemporary-styled champagne flutes with individual pieces of pine or rosemary which also adds a nice fragrance to the table.   You could consider adding fresh cranberries to the bottom of the glass for added color as well.

Festive pomander balls

We have created these types of colorful centerpieces for everything from holiday celebrations to birthday parties and weddings.  You can either use carnations or roses, both of which come in a huge variety of colors.  These fun pomanders can be placed in a number of containers from contemporary to antique.

willow & bloom holiday centerpiece

We recently designed a stunning tablescape for a client’s holiday party using three of these centerpieces placed down the center of the table.  The mercury-like glass vase reflects candlelight and the hydrangea, roses and orchids created festive and beautiful color.  The price range is $75 to $150 for this centerpiece arrangement.

Happy holidays!

Our fabulous little bird bud vases are featured in Lucky Magazine’s “Black Book” section in the June Edition on page 64!  Needless to say, these vases have been flying out the door, but we are expecting our new shipment to come in this week so please place your orders – we can ship almost anywhere in the world.

SEATTLE – willow & bloom

By Diane Vadino

“Miya Ferguson’s artful arrangements sit alongside innovative plant holders – like delicate glass birds, square concrete structures and sculptures fashioned from salvaged birch bark…”

approximate size of the vases are 3" tall x 6" long

The birds come in sets of two for $24 with one of each style as shown above.  Also, we are working very hard on the launch of our new willow & bloom home & lifestyle collection showcasing unique and beautiful pieces that we hope will inspire and beautify your surroundings.  So stay tuned for the debut of our online store coming soon!!!

Photography by Elke Van de Velde

As you might know, we closed for a couple of days in January to remodel our store.  We increased our floral production space by almost twice the size (yay!), but unfortunately had to reduce our retail space;  however, we still have a lovely selection of some of our most popular gifts including cards, jewelry, delicious artisan chocolates and beautiful specialty vases and containers!

Photography by Elke Van de Velde

We sourced these super cool vintage windows to act as a room divider between our floral production space and our retail checkout area – they have been most people’s favorite thing about our remodel.  If you’re in the Fremont area, please stop by and check us out!

Photography by Elke Van de Velde

We are very excited to announce that willow & bloom will be hosting a remodeling sale! We will be turning our space into a fabulous floral design studio, and expanding our wedding and event space. Along with our stunning flower arrangements, exquisite orchids and unique plant creations, we will be carrying hand selected gift items ranging from exquisite home accents and hand made cards, to tantalizing chocolates and beautiful jewelry.  In order to make room for this exciting expansion, we are putting everything* in our shop 50% off!!! Everything from our Caldrea cleaning products and our baby cupcake hats, to our be sweet chocolates and Illume candles are all on sale! This is the perfect time to pick up all your baby shower, wedding, anniversary, birthday, and just because gifts!! We can hardly wait to share our newly designed space with you, and look forward to continuing to share our unique flower arrangements and gifts with you!

*sale excludes jewelry, cards, flowers and plants

Mother's Day Flowers

Being a Mom really is a full time job – a job that has no hour limitations, no vacations or breaks, so let this Mother’s Day be one she never forgets!  Surprise her with a stunning custom floral arrangement from willow & bloom.  Something fragrant perhaps with local organic lilac, roses and tulips or something more modern with fresh orchids from Thailand.

Whatever her style or your budget, we can create something magical that will amaze her. With a wonderful selection of cards, local jewelry designs and Theo chocolates (local to Fremont), we can help you create the perfect Mother’s Day gift.

Fremont Mother's Day Window

For those of you wishing to send flowers to someone out of state, we can help you with that too. We work with high-end floral design studios all over the world, ensuring that every floral arrangement is created with the freshest flowers, a unique design, and attention to detail.  So call us, drop by our Seattle shop, or order online for delivery. Let mom know you are thinking about her this Mother’s Day!

Mom – She was there for our first step, our first word and the first day of school.  She was the one who packed our lunches, shuttled us around town and tucked us in at night… she has been there for it all.  So what better way to thank her than with a beautiful willow & bloom custom designed arrangement?

Spring has sprung and everywhere you look nature is bursting into bloom!  The warm sunshine filled days are hinting to us that summer is fast approaching.  For those of us yearning for more spring blossoms, it is not too late.  Why not share the fragrance of hyacinth or the warmth of tulips and daffodils?  In fact, May Day is just around the corner.

Traditionally, May First falls approximately half-way between the spring equinox and the summer solstice and marks the transition from spring to summer.  We love the tradition of making baskets of flowers and leaving them on the front step of someone we admire and why shouldn’t we share flowers with someone we think is great?!  There’s no better way to make someone’s day then by sending them flowers “just because.”

Show someone you care about them and bring a smile to their face by giving them flowers this May Day!

spring blossoms

With the large amount of interest we have in our potted orchids, we wanted to share some basic orchid care tips which apply to most of the varieties we carry.

orchid care

Tricks of the trade:

- The problem most people have has to do with getting the plants to re-bloom. Orchids will respond to slight temperature and light changes by blooming. So, to help your orchid re-bloom, place your orchid in more direct light when it is ready to bloom again. It might take a few weeks, but it should start sending out new bloom shoots.

- There are a few ways people water their orchids. Some will mist their orchids, others will just pour water into the pot, while some even soak the orchid. We recommend avoiding the misting of the plant. The water left on the leaves will attract the sunlight and cause the leaves to burn.

- It is best to water your orchid in the mornings, so as to give it most of the day to let the sun dry it out again. We also prefer the soaking method. If you let the water run through the pot or soak it, you know that the water is making it all the way to the roots of the plant.

As you can see, it is quite simple to keep your orchids healthy and fabulous. With a little water and light they will flourish and you will be able to enjoy this stunning and unique plant for years.